


Kindness is a Luxury

by redroseinsanity



Series: Hold your breath, count to ten [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, IDK if this counts as death tbh, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Mild Horror, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redroseinsanity/pseuds/redroseinsanity
Summary: Kuroo doesn't have much to lose. He's not afraid to look for those who've gone missing.But he should be.
Series: Hold your breath, count to ten [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980692
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21
Collections: Haikyuu Horror Week





	Kindness is a Luxury

**Author's Note:**

> For Haikyuu Horror Week 2020!
> 
> This is my first time writing horror so I’m excited but also apologetic if this is not on par with your expectations. In that vein, I’m not sure if I’m tagging this as well as I should be, so if at any point you feel like you want to nope out, please do!

**Day 1:**

**~~black feathers / surrounded on all sides /~~ a dead serious stare /** **~~blood filling your mouth~~ / a threat you don’t see until it’s too late / too fast**

The light wanes as Kuroo Tetsurou trudges upslope, fighting the wind and his own selfish desire to go home and warm his hands by the fire. 

Flurries of snow whirl past him, he can't really feel the tips of his ears and he wishes he could afford a better cap, a thicker outer layer. Winter has come early this year and the people in his village are struggling.

So is he. 

He works to pull in a breath of frigid air, hands stiff around the makeshift staff that he has and his back aching with the supplies the village has loaded him with. 

Six people. Six villagers gone missing in less than two weeks. That's six families bereft and grieving, six fewer pairs of hands to prepare for winter and a much more sombre mood hanging over them as a whole. 

Kuroo had volunteered to scout the mountainside. After all, he has nothing to lose and perhaps they are stranded in the snow or injured and in need of aid. 

In the dying rays of the sunset, the snow glints in a blinding fashion when he spies what looks like a spill of frozen water ahead, dark and curving across the stark white. But as he draws closer, the horrific realisation strikes as the glossy black splits into strands and reveals itself as locks rather than ice. Despite the layers that make him clumsy, he breaks into a lumbering run that slides to an unceremonious halt at the figure's side. 

At first, he thinks, _a child_. For they are curled up and achingly small in the drifts of snow that bank around them. 

Then he sees the face and he thinks, _a beauty_. For even still and pale, they are ethereal. 

No wonder he failed to discern it was a person until much later, for they are clad in nothing but a thin white robe that blends seamlessly with the powder that surrounds them. Kuroo reaches for the shoulder of the stranger and nearly recoils upon contact, they're so cold that he's afraid they-

But frost tipped lashes flutter and lift to reveal a hypnotic golden gaze. With a sharp inhale of icy air, Kuroo drops his pack and rushes to shed a layer that he wraps around the fragile figure. Gently, he pulls them into a half sitting position, somewhat cradling them and trying to impart his own body heat into their frozen flesh. Almost imperceptibly, the stranger leans into Kuroo, obviously weakened and in need of support. 

Kuroo's mind is racing, _a wanderer who got lost or caught in a snowstorm? Someone from the neighbouring village?_

"Are you alright?" He asks in a low tone, afraid to raise his voice and cause even more distress. 

The stranger shifts in his arms slightly and Kuroo is helpless, drawn to those delicate cheekbones and that soft parted mouth, fascinated by the fair, smoothness of their cheek and the piercing gold of their gaze. 

"I am, now that you're here," Is the response in a low melodious tone, neither male nor female, but musical nonetheless. 

"Let me take you back to my village, we can care for you there," Kuroo says, already preparing to gather them into his arms and make the arduous trip back. A tiny hand on his forearm stills him and he turns a quizzical look on the stranger. 

"I can walk on my own," They murmur and so Kuroo helps them to their feet and leads the way, mindful not to go too fast. Every so often he pauses and turns to check if he's still being followed, if they're alright. 

Every time, he will be presented with a picture of a petite person, nearly swallowed by Kuroo's outer layer, dark hair pooling at their waist, unbound with strands getting teased by the chilly breeze. Every time, unflinching amber eyes will be on him, grave and thoughtful. They pick their way slowly and carefully after Kuroo, daintily making their way down after Kuroo's own clomping footsteps. 

By some kind of miracle, the howling wind has died down, leaving a deafening kind of silence that even the birds do not deign to fill. Yet, it seems colder by several degrees and perhaps it is because Kuroo's outer layer is wrapped around the stranger, but he shivers a little and tries to walk faster.

As they walk, the snow seems to fall heavier and in quicker succession, and the cold seeps into Kuroo's bones at a deadly pace, bypassing his flimsy remaining layers and slowing his movements. But the thought of getting the stranger to safety spurs him on, pushing him to keep crunching through the ice even though each step is more laborious than the one before. It's only when the moon has begun her climb that Kuroo reaches within himself for the dredges of his energy to find nothing. His footsteps come to a halt as he pants, battling the urge to lie down and sleep. 

Trying to keep the despair off his features, he turns to the stranger… To find an empty landscape. 

Panic fills Kuroo's veins as he whirls around and begins retracing his steps. Had he been so preoccupied with his own exhaustion that he had failed to care for his charge? 

Opening his mouth to call for the stranger, he realizes he doesn't even know their name and the air seems to freeze in his lungs as he casts about, movements stiff and knuckles aching. 

The land around him is a blank canvas, the lack of an answer, he comes up empty wherever he turns, no matter which way he goes in. All the directions end up looking the same, there is no forward nor backward, only the whiteness that erases all. 

He's mid-stride, exhales coming in short huffs when he's slammed to the ground with no warning whatsoever. All breath has fled his lungs and he gasps for air, the numbing wetness of snow ebbing into his clothes and caressing his skin. 

The stranger lies atop him, dark hair falling like an inky curtain over them, golden eyes impossible to look away from. 

"What-" Kuroo manages to wheeze before the weight on him is compounded, as though a growing boulder is on his chest instead of the small stranger. 

The world narrows, his vision beginning to fade at the edges. His mind has yet to catch up, still lost in the initial frantic fear of losing the stranger, still processing the iciness that can't be denied and the receding oxygen. 

It comes slow—the realisation and then the dread, somehow colder than the freezing temperatures he's insulated in. 

"It was so kind of you to come," The beautiful being breathes, their embrace is like being submerged in ice water, the weight upon him presses further(it's almost comforting in a way) and Kuroo turns his head to be confronted with the truth. 

In the snow, there are only one set of footprints—his. 

_It's alright_. Kuroo wants to say, for those brilliant golden eyes are large and luminescent and sorrowful. But there is no air left in his lungs, not much warmth left in his body. 

Seven. Seven people. 

**Author's Note:**

> So this was more or less based on Yuki-onna or Snow Woman, they seemed pretty cool (geddit). Hope you liked it!
> 
> I should also be posting concurrently on [tumblr](https://redroseinsanity.tumblr.com/) as well. Come say hi!


End file.
